Adjustable roller assembly and suspension means

ABSTRACT

An adjustable roller assembly of the drawer and pedestal track and roller suspension type wherein the roller assembly is adjustable laterally so that a stack of drawers in a pedestal can be brought into stacked vertical alignment, the roller assembly including a roller having an inner race with an axial bore and a bushing within the axial bore and key means interconnecting the roller and the bushing for relative axial movement of the two and a headed screw captivated in a fixed position relative to the roller and in threaded engagement with the bushing for relative axial movement of the bushing relative to the roller on adjustment.

United States Patent Figueroa 1 1 ADJUSTABLE ROLLER ASSEMBLY ANDSUSPENSION MEANS Apr. 1, 1975 3.469.892 9/1969 Langstroth 308/18 PrinmryExaminer-Charles J. Myhre Ass/slant [imminer-R. H. Lazarus [57] ABSTRACTAn adjustable roller assembly of the drawer and pedestal track androller suspension type wherein the roller assembly is adjustablelaterally so that a stack of drawers in a pedestal can be brought intostacked vertical alignment. the roller assembly including a rollerhaving an inner race with an axial bore and a bushing within the axialbore and key means interconnecting the roller and the bushing forrelative axial movement of the two and a headed screw captivated in afixed position relative to the roller and in threaded engagement withthe bushing for relative axial movement of the bushing relative to theroller on adjustment.

3 Claims. 3 Drawing Figures ;\I).IUS'IAIII.E ROLLER AS EMBLY ANI)SUSPENSION MEANS Fllill) OF THE INVENIION This imention relates to anadjustable roller assembly for use on drawers and pedestals and. moreparticularly. to an adjustable roller assembly whereby drawers in\crtical stacked relation which are relatively slightly but disturbinglymisaligned maybe brought into precise alignment by screw-thretuledadvancement of adjustment means on the roller assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As is perhaps well known in the furnituremanufacture it is often necessary to provide pedestals with an openingin which drawers are received and which draw ers and pedestals areprovided with guide tracks and roller suspension means. each includingan adjustable roller assembly. but that because of variances within thelimits of the tolerances the drawers of a finished piece of furnitureoften appear to be misaligned that is, not in perfectly stackedrelation.

The instant invention is of an adjustable roller assembly whereby bythreaded advancement of an adjustment means the relative position of adrawer adjacent a pedestal can be laterally arranged so that the drawersare in stacked relation.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is. accordingly. an object of this inventionto provide an adjustable roller assembly and track means for draw ersand pedestals which includes an adjustable roller assembly whereby thedrawers of a stack may be conveniently adjusted to bring them intorelatively precise stacked relation to improve the appearance of thefurniture.

It is another object of this invention to provide an adjustable rollerassembly which includes a ball bearing having an axial bore and abushing in said axial bore and key means mutually interconnecting theroller and the bushing for relative sliding movement of the same alongan axial centerline and a screw means interconnecting the same foreffecting relative axial movement of the bushing and roller.

It is another object of this invention to provide a simple andinexpensive means for providing a suspension sy tem for drawers andpedestals whereby the drawers in a pedestal may be adjusted laterally tobring the same into stacked relation which is simple and inexpew sive tomanufacture. strong and sturdy, and is adapted for inevpensive finishingof the appearance of furnitare.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparenthereinafter. the instant invention will now be described with referenceto the accompanying drawings in which:

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of a support meansfor a drawer including the adjustable roller assembly of the instantinvention:

Fl(i. Z is a view in cross section taken vertically through the plane ofthe roller assembly; and

I"l(i. 3 is a \iew in cross section taken on the plane indicated by theline 3-3 of FIG. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. I there isshown a drawer member 8 having a front 2 provided with a handle 3 tomove it inwardly or outwardly of a pedestal 4. the sides such as 5 beingprovided with a conventional roller guide track 6 which mates with thecorresponding guide track 7 secured on the side I0 of the drawer and theroller assent blies. a roller assembly being mounted on each of theguides as shown to a lug which extends downwardly in the case of one ofthe guides and upwardly in the case of the other of the guides so thatthe rollers will ride in the adjacent track. In the manufacture offurniture having a stack of drawers. such as desks. because of tolerancelimits. in production a stack of drawers is often somewhat misaligned inthe pedestal. The roller assembly of the instant invention is effectivefor lateral adjustment of the drawers to bring them into a neatalignment. the adjustment means being by means of a screwdriver whichlaterally adjusts the roller.

Referring now to FIG. 2. the adjustable roller assembly I2 is seen to becomposed of a headed threaded screw [4 of a predetermined diameter whichis in threaded engagement in a bushing [6 having a threaded bore 22extending axially from the first end I8 toward the second end 20. Thebushing carries exterior key means 22 and 24 on the first end I8 whichextend axially thercalong toward but not to the second end 20. Theroller generally designated by the numeral 26 includes an axially facingfirst end or face 28 and opposite end or face and 30. The roller it isseen includes an inner race 32 and an outer race 34 with bearings 36being captivated between the races as illustrated, the inner race 32 isprovided with a through axial bore 40 of a predetermined diameter whichis greater than the diameter ofthe threaded screw I4 and the maindiameter of the bushing. The wall of the inner race is provided withkeyways 42 extending axially from the second face 30 of the roller andin which the key means 22 and 24 of the bushing are slidingly engaged.It is seen that the first end of the inner race has a constrictedopening or mouth of the bore so that there is defined a shoulder 44.Captivated about the threaded shank ofthe screw [8 a coil spring 46 isprovided which is of a diameter greater than that of the screw andwhich. at one end. bears against the shoulder 44 and, at the other end,against the end face of the bushing I6. It is thus seen that uponthreaded movement of the screw the bushing will slide relative to theinner race inwardly and outwardly against the spring whereby the rolleris adapted to be moved inwardly or outwardly relatively to the pedestalor the surface to which it is mounted for lateral adjustment of themembers involved In the embodiment shown each of the guide tracks it isseen comprises a channel-shaped member each having a web and flangesextending in a common direction. The distance between the flanges issuch as to snugly accommodate the diameter of the roller so that, whenit is mounted by suitable means. such as by welding to the guide tracklug 9 as at 2l. a shrink fit, or other suitable means such as by peeningover the end 21. there is provided an access for the roller adjustment.simply by removing the drawer and the screw turned by a screwdriver.

What is claimed is:

I. A slide and guide assembly including a guide member adapted to bemounted to a drawer and a roller assembly adapted to be mounted to acabinet, said adjust able roller assembly including:

a bushing having a first end and a second end and a threaded boreextending axially from the first end of said bushing toward said secondend said bore si7ed for threaded engagement with said screw.

exterior key means on the first end of said bushing. a roller having anaxially facing first and second face and including.

an inner race. an outer race. bearings captivated between the races anda roller member on the outer race.

said inner race having a through axial bore of a pre a coil spring of adiameter greater than the diameter of said threaded screw captivatedbetween said shoulder and the bushing whereby. said threaded screwextends through the bore of said inner race and into threaded engagementtilt said threaded bore and said bushing, said roller is adapted to hemoved inwardly and outwardly relative to said bushing on slidingmovement of said key in said keyway'. and

means to mount said bushing to a first surface said roller assemblymounted for relative movement with respect to said guide assembly,

2. An adjustable roller as set forth in claim 1 and a guide assemblycomprising a channel form member having a web and a pair of opposingflanges extending in a common direction and an upstanding lug on one ofsaid flanges, said means to mount said bushing mutually interconnectingsaid web and said bushing.

3. An adjustable roller assembly in combination as set forth in claim 2wherein a second adjustable roller assembly is provided and a secondguide track is provided. said second guide track having a web andflanges of common dimensions with respect to said first guide track andincluding a lug and a roller assembly mounted thereto ofcommon dimensionwith respect to first mentioned roller assembly whereby the tracks areadapted to be mated together and one be applied to a first member andone be applied to a second member for relative rolling adjustment of themembers with respect to one another.

1. A slide and guide assembly including a guide member adapted to bemounted to a drawer and a roller assembly adapted to be mounted to acabinet, said adjustable roller assembly including: a bushing having afirst end and a second end and a threaded bore extending axially fromthe first end of said bushing toward said second end, said bore sizedfor threaded engagement with said screw, exterior key means on the firstend of said bushing, a roller having an axially facing first and secondface and including, an inner race, an outer race, bearings captivatedbetWeen the races, and a roller member on the outer race, said innerrace having a through axial bore of a predetermined diameter greaterthan the diameter of said threaded screw and the diameter of saidbushing, and a keyway in the inner race extending axially from thesecond face of said roller, a radially inwardly extending shoulderconstricting the mouth of said bore of said inner race adjacent saidfirst face of said roller with an opening sized for passage of saidthreaded screw, a coil spring of a diameter greater than the diameter ofsaid threaded screw captivated between said shoulder and the bushing,whereby, said threaded screw extends through the bore of said inner raceand into threaded engagement with said threaded bore and said bushing,said roller is adapted to be moved inwardly and outwardly relative tosaid bushing on sliding movement of said key in said keyway; and meansto mount said bushing to a first surface said roller assembly mountedfor relative movement with respect to said guide assembly.
 2. Anadjustable roller as set forth in claim 1 and a guide assemblycomprising a channel form member having a web and a pair of opposingflanges extending in a common direction and an upstanding lug on one ofsaid flanges, said means to mount said bushing mutually interconnectingsaid web and said bushing.
 3. An adjustable roller assembly incombination as set forth in claim 2 wherein a second adjustable rollerassembly is provided and a second guide track is provided, said secondguide track having a web and flanges of common dimensions with respectto said first guide track and including a lug and a roller assemblymounted thereto of common dimension with respect to first mentionedroller assembly whereby the tracks are adapted to be mated together andone be applied to a first member and one be applied to a second memberfor relative rolling adjustment of the members with respect to oneanother.